Misquoting Jesus with Bart Ehrman

Latest Episodes:

Newly Discovered PROOF: Jesus Was an Illusionist Apr 02, 2024

Show notes

In an absolutely shocking turn of events, Bart has learned of a first-century Gospel that will overturn everything scholars think they know about Jesus, showing that he was a charlatan exposed by the Roman government for duping the Jewish crowds by sophisticated works of magic.

The Gospel, set to be published this week by the NY Times, details how Jesus deliberately faked his famous miracles in an effort to seek fame and fortune. How did he go from magician-for-hire to Son of God, and was the crucifixion a tragic illusion gone wrong?

Join us this week on Misquoting Jesus to find out more.

Was Peter a Rock or Shifting Sand? Jesus' Closest Disciple in History and Legend. Mar 26, 2024

Show notes

Jesus' closest disciple was Simon, whom henicknamed "Peter" -- that is "The Rock." But in the Gospels and the writings of Paul, Peter is fickle, clumsy, and unreliable, less like a rock than shifting sand.

After the New Testament we have numerous writings both about and allegedly by him. In looking over all these records, what can we say about the one on whom Jesus allegedly "built his church"? Is it possible to separate out the history from the legend? The fact from the fiction? And why didn't the Gospel writers do a bit more to improve his reputation?

Did Jesus Think He Was the Messiah? Mar 19, 2024

Show notes

Jesus' followers have always called him the "messiah," from the earliest days of the religion -- so much so that "Christ" (the Greek word for Messiah) became his second name. But most Jews, both then and now, rejected the claim, pointing out that Jesus in fact was nothing like the messiah.

Do they have a point? If so, why did Jesus' early followers call him that? Did they begin thinking so during his lifetime? Is it what Jesus himself claimed? How would we know?

Tune in to the episode and find out!

Do Fundamentalists (actually) Follow Jesus? Mar 12, 2024

Show notes

Every Christian fundamentalist on the planet, of course, claims that they follow Jesus. Avidly. But do they?

Why do so many seem to overlook or ignore many of Jesus' key teachings? Surely they know what he said about loving the enemy and the foreigner? Why do they claim that Jesus said things he never, actually, talked about (many of the most pressing social questions fundamentalists are keen on)?

Is being a fundamentalist these days less about believing the "fundamental" doctrines of the faith and more about having the correct social and political views? What would Jesus make of Falwell and his Followers?

Finding Jesus in Genesis Mar 05, 2024

Show notes

Some evangelical preachers claim that Jesus is walking all over the pages of the Old Testament.

The Old Testament, of course, doesn't say so. But believing Christians all the way in antiquity claimed that the Jewish Scriptures not only predict Jesus but also portray him, as a person involved with the creation of the world and the history of Israel.

Where would they get such an idea? And how do they find Jesus as an active figure in the very first book of the Old Testament, from Adam and Eve to the flood of Noah to the story of Joseph, and lots of places in between? Are they just makin' stuff up, or is there a logic behind it all?

Archaeology in the Time of Jesus. Feb 27, 2024

Show notes

In this special episode Bart interviews one of the world's leading archaeologists of ancient Israel, Jodi Magness, whose discoveries are regularly covered in National Geographic.

The interview is a prelude to an interesting four-lecture remote course Jodi is giving on March 2-3, called "Archaeology in the Time of Jesus" (available at bartehrman.com/timeofJesus).

In the interview Bart and Jodi talk about what archaeologists really do (as opposed to what's in the popular imagination) and how the findings of archaeology can provide fresh information about Jesus' life and death, including issues connected with the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jesus' upbringing in Galilee, and his crucifixion and burial in Jerusalem.

Was Luke Written by Luke? And Why Should We Care? Feb 20, 2024

Show notes

The Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts were both allegedly written by a companion of Paul, Luke "the gentile physician." But the books never name their author.

So why Luke? Are are there any good grounds for naming him in particular? Or any grounds at all? Were the books probably written by a doctor? Was he probably a gentile? *Was* there a Luke? If picking his name was just guess-work -- would it affect how we interpret the books or understand their reliability?

Why Did Paul Convert? Did He Convert? Feb 13, 2024

Show notes

Paul's apparently overnight change from ruthlessly persecuting Christianity to rigorously promoting it is almost certainly the most significant conversion in history: more significant than Augustine's, and even Constantine's. Without Paul's conversion, Christianity as we know it may well have never even happened. But what actually happened?

The New Testament describes Paul's experience on several occasions: but can the accounts be trusted? Are they even consistent with each other? If we want to understand such a world-shattering experience, do we need to invoke the supernatural? Are there other plausible explanations? And is it right to call the event a "conversion" in the sense that Paul turned from one religion (Judaism) to another (Christianity)? These are all key issues for understanding a pivotal point in early Christian history, one that eventually would have enormous ramifications for the history of the west.

Why Did Paul Hate Jesus and His Followers? Feb 06, 2024

Show notes

Next to Jesus, Paul is the most important figure in the history of Christianity, but as is well known, before he was a zealous apostle he was an equally zealous antagonist. What was that all about?

Why would a Jew in the Roman world outside Israel even care if a small group of Jews were claiming that Jesus was the messiah who brought salvation? Wouldn't he just write them off as another bunch of crazies? What about their claims did he find so offensive that he had to take them on? And when he took them on, what did he actually do? Was he murdering them? Sending them off to prison? On what authority? Can the NT be right that he was authorized by Jewish authorities? Was he just beating up people he didn't like?

These are important questions because the answers can help explain the transformation of Christianity into a world religion. In this episode, we try to figure it all out!

Gospel Thrillers! When Jesus Meets Robert Ludlum Jan 30, 2024

Show notes

Many listeners have read a relatively new kind of thriller -- about a mysterious discovery of a long-lost Gospel and the protagonist's attempt to make it public, while being hounded in harrowing scenes by political or ecclesiastical forces of darkness (the Nazis! The Vatican!).

In this episodes Bart interviews the first scholar to discuss this genre, who in fact coined its name, in a book just now coming out, Andrew Jacobs, Senior Research Fellow at Harvard.

The backstory is fascinating and illuminating: these books started to appear during the Cold War, in the context of the increasingly serious questioning of authority, imperialism, and colonialism, and just when biblical scholars were themselves publicizing new finds that called into question the traditional truths of Christianity.

This context raises all kinds of questions. Why the sudden passion for Gospel conspiracy? And are academic scholars dealing with real-life discoveries themselves "objective" observers, or are they too caught up in the ideologies behind these novels?

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